Statewide survey gives the tick of approval to local councils

News Release

Statewide survey gives the tick of approval to local councils

Queensland councils have won a tick of approval from their communities, according to a comprehensive survey commissioned by the Local Government Association of Queensland.

The 2017 Fred Rogers Community Satisfaction Tracking Study showed that local councils were performing particularly well in key service areas such as maintenance of parks and gardens, libraries and other aspects of community lifestyles.

The survey, conducted every two years, found that overall satisfaction in the job that councils do stood at 69.4 percent, compared with a rating of 70 percent two years ago.

LGAQ chief executive Greg Hallam said the survey results showed a healthy public regard for the local government sector despite some recent controversies.

“These results show the community is a great arbiter of who’s fair dinkum and who’s not,’’ he said.

“To record a consistently high satisfaction rating suggests that the public realise most of the people who work for the local council are fair dinkum about looking after the community.’’

The results suggest councils perform best in the public’s view on services to do with activities such as parks and garden maintenance, sporting facilities and heritage protection.

But the survey suggests, as it has in previous years, that councils need to do more work on customer service and communicating with the public.

The 2017 Community Satisfaction Tracking Study, conducted by Morton Consulting Services and Market Facts, canvassed the opinions of 700 households across Queensland.

The independent survey is the 11th in a series that analyses community satisfaction and determines benchmarks for council performance.